Political dust-up at The Black Crowes Tampa show sees fans leave mid-gig
The Black Crowes had a difficult time at a recent show in Tampa after a large group of fans left mid-gig in response to frontman Chris Robinson’s political comments.
On May 31st, the iconic band was performing in Tampa as part of their Southern Hospitality Tour. Things began to take a turn for the worse when a visual on the screen behind the group showed the band’s Black Crowe character dressed like Uncle Sam.
In response, before the band could launch into their track ‘She Talks to Angels’, videos from the event show the crowd beginning to chant, “USA! USA!”
Heeding the chant, Robinson addressed the audience, stating bluntly, “Thanks for the geography lesson.”
As the chant persisted, he added, “I don’t know what you have to be so proud of right now”.
As per Yahoo, as pockets of the crowd began to exit the venue in response to his comment, he added, “For those of you fucking booing us, some of us are not afraid. And we most assuredly are not fucking ignorant.”
On March 13th, the band released their highly anticipated new album, A Pound of Feathers, marking their first project since their 2024 album, Happiness Bastards, was nominated for ‘Best Rock Album’ at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
Recently, during a conversation with Mojo in March 2026, Robinson surprisingly commented: “I’m not interested in politics”.
However, he followed it up, adding: “[But] I know what’s right and wrong – and this shit going on right now is wrong. Look man, I’m almost 60, all right. I don’t tell anyone what to do, because I don’t like to be told what to do. But I know right and wrong. The world’s teetering on the edge with all this bullshit, but if there’s a street fighting man out there, he’d got to be a young man, right? But these kids don’t seem to give a fuck.”
The ‘She Talks to Angels’ rockers have been undertaking an extensive tour of North America since May, which will run on until August. They will also head over to the European continent in June and July for a run of gigs, including two dates in the UK.
Earlier this year, Robinson looked forward to the forthcoming run of live dates, sharing happily, “[The fact that] here we are in the year 2026, doing a full tour is incredible. [It’s great] that people care that we have this level of success and that people still enjoy it and that these songs are in their lives. They’re part of my life, and they’re a part of your life.”
Watch the incident unfold in the footage below.
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